spec_evofandomcom-20200214-history
Lesser burbot (New Pleistocene)
Notable amount of following information for the species is compiled by using information from the animaldiversity.org site. The link to the original species article is here. Lesser burbot Lota minor is a benthic freshwater fish species whose ancestor American burbot used to be an important commercial fishery species as food and for it's fish oil. Due to being adapted to colder waters and being occasionally reintroduced into freshwater by humans it has managed to survive into Great Pleistocene. It is smaller than it's ancestor, lives mainly in lakes and also has developed minimal care for it's eggs by hiding them inside little dark pockets among the lake sludge. Biology and reproduction Lesser burbot is now closer to 1m in size as opposed to 1.5 it usually grew to and also weights less - about 24 kg. It's coloration has adapted lots of green tones in order to blend in with the lake and river bottom containing psammophytes, limuphytes and lithophytes (algae and fungi specialized for covering sand, mud and rocks respectively). It has developed a small anal fin near it's tail. Lesser burbot shows decent level of parental care for it's offspring. After it's eggs have been fertilized by male, the male has to be the one to hide at least those egg batches it can find as the female has already moved on. It seeks crevices in the sump in which it carries the eggs over, carrying them in it's mouth. L. burbot newborns develop slower due to the lesser presence of light. It may also contribute to the smaller adult size. As soon as they have hatched, they quickly swim to consume micro and meso-scopic (medium size) aquatic dwellers, especially the sedentary rotifer species and freshwater hydrae. Behavior and Ecology Much like the American burbot, L. burbot has a diverse diet and an oppurtunistic piscivore. They use much of the debris found underwater to both ambush prey and hide from larger or more vicious aquatic creatures. It is not in particular danger from the terrestrial animals yet. Similarly to their ancestors they are crepuscular (active at dusk) or nocturnal and seek shelter themselves whenever needing to be less than active. If the climate becomes a little more unbearable for them and if their lakes are connected to the rivers they may migrate, but aren't very keen on congregating in rivers otherwise Evolution American burbot Lota lota was a species that had already adapted to cold fresh water. The possible adaptations were it's ability to accumulate oil (the same it was fished by humans for) as well as prefering to live in freshwater bottoms as well as taking refuge in all sorts of hiding spots like sunken trees or sunken rock piles. As the climate started to change and much of the North and Central America dried out, those American burbots which were connected to waterways more closer to the Rocky mountains migrated. It is thought that the habit of transporting eggs evolved gradually when the A. burbots noticed that the environment becomes more drier and less rich with food and were forced to relocate the eggs they just layed or hide them in spots which were likely to contain water when the eggs would hatch. Eventually the A. burbot populations from the central regions managed to reach the Rocky mountains which due to their landscape were able to retain enough moisture around them for the vegetation to be present. Having an adventage for living in somewhat cold environment, the partially famished A.burbot were able to regain at least some of it's size and started to prey on other fish in Rocky Mountain freshwater lakes. It partially abandoned the rivers because it found the life in rivers more difficult (likely due to having to use river to escape drought before and all the hardships associated with it) and also became less likely to migrate. Category:New Pleistocene Category:Fish Category:Piscivores Category:Freshwater Category:Saltwater